2025: Reducing Extreme-heat Deaths by Enhancing Disaster Scenarios and Training
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather disaster, surpassing floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes combined. This project aims to enhance preparedness for extreme heat by developing disaster scenarios and training programs for the public health and emergency management practitioners on the front lines of protecting communities. Researchers address three main barriers preventing them from acting: low hazard perception, lack of training, and location-specific data, and understaffing. By leveraging the successful ARkStorm scenario as a model, which facilitated statewide preparedness for atmospheric-river events in California, this project will create credible extreme-heat disaster scenarios, raising awareness of the nationwide severity of the hazard.
Investigators: Alistair Hayden (College of Veterinary Medicine/Public and Ecosystem Health), Toby Ault (Cornell CALS/Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), Vivek Srikrishnan (Cornell CALS/Biological and Environmental Engineering), Gen Meredith (College of Veterinary Medicine/Public and Ecosystem Health)